Pao Coffee

Unilocal 100 Challenge 2015 — ³²⁄₁₀₀
Thanks to the photos and review of a fellow Unilocaler, I was lucky to find this unique coffee shop located about five minutes walk from the north exit of Tsutsujigaoka station on the Keio line. Please use the photos and map within the Unilocal app to guide yourself there.
You’ll first be greeted by the brightly colored stand up sign advertising the weekly specials outside the door. If you’re not familiar with the different varieties of beans (and their origins), take good mental notes for asking questions to staff. Hint: Use the camera on your phone to snap a photo so you don’t forget. ;-)
Short story:
+ Service: ⁴⁄₅ stars (thorough, easy to understand explanations of the differences among the beans, as long as you help guide the staff to your preferences like strong, bitter, fragrant, etc.)
+ Selection: ⁵⁄₅ (very good representation of the most famous origins and bean varieties from around the world)
+ Specials: ⁵⁄₅ (good value on beans that are not only priced higher normally here, but at other shops selling beans)
+ Atmosphere: ³⁄₅ (pretty straight-​forward and no-​frills. Nothing really fancy here but it’s farily well organized, but there’s definitely a focus on pure functionality as opposed to creating a trendy, hipster space)
Long story:
Not a lot to expand on as the key highlights are covered above. However, there are a few items I would hope the shop considers for future improvements, as follows:
— Coffee tasting: If two or three varieties of the same beans featured on the signboard were prepared, people would be more inclined to try and buy those beans
— Seating: Real estate is a premium and I can understand the focus on efficiency and functionality, but if people could literally take five to enjoy a few sips of freshly brewed coffee, it would be nicer. Not asking for a full-​blown café experience, but since it seems they have so many good varieties to offer, helping customers learn and enjoy them would be welcome
— Loyalty card; The pricing on the beans is fair and reasonable, so I can easily imagine it wouldn’t be too hard to reward repeat customers with this simple system used at many other similar coffee resellers.
Well, I’ve got no major complaints and only a few suggestions on how to make the shop more an experience as opposed to simple transactions. However, you’ll find good value here regardless of whether changes are made or not. Feel free to ask lots of questions about beans, brewing methods and storage hints. The staff will be help you make the right purchases for enjoyment at home.